Hello Everyone,

Welcome to The Invisible Vision Project’s Blog.

Summer is a good season for reading, at least this is true for me. I’ve been using some quality time for reading for the past few summers now. In today’s blog, I’d like to share 5 book recommendations with you all. However, this is NOT a book review, hence no spoilers on what the books are about. If you want to find out more about the books, the only way is to read them for yourself. Another thing to keep in mind, even though I read books, but as a Visually Impaired person, I listen to audio books more than I actually read a physical book. But, I do buy and keep physical books, even though I don’t really read them; they’re kept as good resources. 

• Rising Strong by Brene Brown: This book is categorized as self-help/motivation. This was my first time ever reading a self-help book. I picked up this book because I first saw it on my friend’s book shelf. The title of the book sounded so positive and I needed that positive vibe at the time. I loved reading this book, because it taught me a lot. It’ll be a good pick if it’s your first time reading a self-help book!
• The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown: This is the second book I read by Brene Brown, after having read Rising Strong. This book is on self-help/emotional health. I picked up this book because, even though I don’t consider myself a perfectionist, but I’m close to people that are, and it’s very exhausting. I also learned a lot from this book, especially the idea of the book is to be OK with not having everything together, and not living a perfect life. The one thing that caught my attention from this book is a quote on the cover page that says, “Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are.” I read this book during one of my difficult moments in life, and it was helpful as well as liberating.
• Getting Grief Right by Patrick O’Malley with Tim Madigan: I first saw this book in a pile of books in the bookstore. I had a tough decision on whether to get this book or not, because I knew at the time, I wasn’t ready to read the book right away. In the end, I decided to take the book home, and read it when I’m ready. From the time I got the book to the time I actually started reading it, it took quite a while. Here, I want to add: grief and loss is a subject I don’t talk so publicly about, and that’s because, it’s not an easy topic for me to talk about, and it probably never will be an easy topic to talk about. And that’s the thing, that’s one of the things I learned from reading this book, that there is really no too short or too long time to grief, as each and every one of us deals with grief differently, and that’s OK. Although this book didn’t make me put down grieving (and that’s not the intention of the book anyway) but, it did provide me with some helpful tips on how to deal with grief in a more healthy way.
• Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change by Pema Chodron: I probably wouldn’t have encountered this book if it wasn’t a gift to me. Also, this book came to me at a time I really needed it: A time of change. Pema Chodron’s books are mostly based on the religious teaching of Buddhism. But, you don’t have to be a Buddhist to read her books. This book wasn’t an easy read, it’s in fact quite complicated, but in a very good way. I think it’s good to read a book that you don’t get it the first time you read it, but the more you read, the less complicated it becomes. I learned a lot about life through this book, and through Buddhist teachings. But, because I have some understanding of Buddhism, and I agree with some things but not with everything, reading the book gave me the same kind of feeling. (Disagreeing doesn’t mean it’s negative or bad!)
•  When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron: Having read Living Beautifully, I decided to get a second book from Pema Chodron and I picked this one. I specifically picked this book because of the title, and because I think I really needed good advices for difficult times. Without a doubt, this book is exactly about that. Once again, because of Pema Chodron’s books are based on the teaching of Buddhism, (along with my familiarity with Buddhism), I have some agreements and disagreements on what’s been said in this book. Nonetheless, it’s still a very good book to read!

Here it is, this concludes today’s blog on 5 Book Recommendations. Have you read any of the books I mentioned in this blog? Are you interested in reading any of the books I recommended? Do you recommend any other books that I should read? Let me know in the comments below! Summer is still not over yet so,  send me some book suggestions!
Thank you for reading to the end.

By: The Invisible Vision Project